How L'Taken Opened My Eyes to Jewish Social Justice and our Political System

Dear Jacob, It was good seeing you in Washington on Tuesday. Thank you for your activism. We’ll work together, Sherrod I received this handwritten letter from my Senator, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, nearly six years ago. He wrote it after I travelled with my confirmation class to Washington, DC in order to participate in the RAC’s L’taken Social Justice Seminar. To this day, I keep that letter framed in my room to remind me of the pivotal experience I had that snowy weekend in winter 2009. The program itself was both a blur and a ball. Through innovative and exciting programs that reminded me of my days at camp and in NFTY, we learned the ins and outs of the political system in the United States, and about Israeli politics as well. We had the opportunity to connect with Reform Jews our age from around the country, and to grow closer as a confirmation class as we planned the speeches we would deliver on the Hill. We also got to explore DC and have a beautiful Havdallah in front of the Jefferson Memorial. The centerpiece of the experience, for me, however, was the last day when we went to speak with our Representatives, our Senators, and their staff on Capitol Hill. I had spent much of the night before preparing a speech with some of my classmates about legislation aimed at ending torture practices, so I should have been tired. Yet, a powerful energy overtook me that day, as I spent time in the halls of power that had once seemed so distant, speaking as a Jew and as an American for values I cherish and policies to put them into practice. To say that this program impacted me would be an understatement. It played a formative role in the education I have pursued and the actions I have taken since. Seeing that involvement in politics could not only make a positive impact, but also be a way of living out my Judaism only increased my interest in politics. Currently, I am majoring in Political Science, active politically, and heavily involved in Jewish life on campus and beyond. I am who I am today largely because of my experience at the L’taken Seminar, and I will take the lessons I learned there forward in my life as both an engaged citizen and as a devoted Jew.     Jacob Kraus is a Senior Political Science Major at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He grew up at Rockdale Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio and is also involved with Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul.